GuysBlog

Lyndsey Amott, dba Docsymmetry, has a great site about technical writing. I wish I’d written it. Lyndsey operates out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

She has organized the site into the following sections

Great Technical Writing – even if you are not a great writer
Getting a Technical Writing Job, Even If You Have No Experience
A Technical Writing Career … Information for Writers and Employers
Audience Analysis for Technical Writers
Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs)
Mistakes Technical Writers Make
The Technical Writing Process
How to Write Glossaries
Editing Your Own DocumentationTechnical Writing Books
About Docsymmetry
Contact.

There’s so much useful information there, I wish it had a site search capability.

She urges STC membership. [So do I.]

Thanks to darrenbarefoot for the link. See also Darren’s Hall of Technical Writing Wierdness.

What do these terms have in common?

“paracopyright”, “packing and cracking”, “cyberbalkanization”, “spim”, “white food”,
“hathos”, “passive overeating”, “floortime”, “quiet party”, “419 scam”

The’re all recent entries in a web site named “The Word Spy”, which describes itself thusly:

This Web site is devoted to recently coined words and phrases, and to old words that are being used in new ways. These aren’t “stunt words” or “sniglets,” but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources.

Now, I’m not so sure about the “recently coined” part… looking down their list of “other recent additions” I see “lipstick lesbian” which doesn’t seem all that new to me. Maybe it’s just the circles I travel in. But, recent or not, it’s lots of fun.

For the geeks among us, they also offer “The Tech Word Spy”.

You can receive its postings by e-mail or by RSS subscription. Thanks to Molly for the tip.

Pat Holt, in her Holt Uncensored page reports on:

Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do):

Like many editorial consultants, I’ve been concerned about the amount of time I’ve been spending on easy fixes that the author shouldn’t have to pay for. …

Twice a month, she sends out a column that “offers book reviews, author interviews and critical commentary about literature, ‘merger mania’ in publishing, ‘the bookstore wars,’ the Internet and First Amendment issues.”

I’ve just subscribed.

Do you ever read fiction when you are depressed or to cheer yourself up?

Do you often read alone?

Now help is available: American Literature Abuse Society (ALAS)

UPDATE Sept 9, 2004

Michael McGrorty, of LibraryDust, claims authorship of the Literature Abuse piece.

The Occupational Adventure (sm) Blog has a posting about Networking for Shy People. It, in turn, has a series of links entitled:

Networking Tips For Shy Job Seekers

Networking for the Shy

Job search techniques for shy executives

Skip Haley’s Networking Tips For Introverts

Networking for Shy People (yes, I noticed, but it’s in a different weblog)

Learn How To Enjoy A Roomful of People

Don’t be shy: Networking tips for the timid

Networking Strategies For Shy Professionals

Advice for Reluctant Networkers

Get Over Your Networking Shyness

Beating Shyness In The Business World

Networking tips for the less gregarious

How Do I Overcome Shyness in Marketing My Home Business?

Dive in!

For all you epistemology fans out there, Kiplog describes itself as “A Weblog exploring the repository of all human knowledge”

Robert Scoble, formerly of Userland but now in the clutc…, er… employ of Microsoft, runs a weblog named The Scobleizer. On December 28, Robert posted on the topic of offshoring.

He has a few nice words for the Silicon Valley Chapter of STC’s web page about offshoring, edited by Fred Sampson, the chapter’s president for 2003-2004.

Robert has some interesting links in his article, and (as of this posting) 30 comments. Many of the comments have links. Grab one of your favorite beverages, settle down, and peruse the lot.

[Thanks, Fred, for the pointer. Thanks, Robert, for the nucleus of this extravaganza.]

Are You a Good Technical Writer? is an article I wish I’d written. (I try to be good….) The article begins:

Most technical writers I’ve met are definitely more writers than they are technical, and frankly, it annoys me.

I believe that techwriters should have a genuine interest in technology, while in fact, many take pride in “staying clear of all the technical details”.

The author is a Danish TW and has two other interesting articles about the craft. Go to his main page and follow the link to “Writing”.
(more…)